Oh here it is! Homemade, so digestible, so filling, so fabulous! I found a cereal recipe and modified it to fit my family’s taste buds (we love peanut butter). It is a huge hit. When you try to kick processed foods you may find yourself picking and choosing what to get rid of first. We LOVE cereal in this family and really didn’t want to clean it out of our pantry! If you have read Nourishing Traditions, or follow The Healthy Home Economist than you know that cold breakfast cereal is one of the most toxic items in your pantry and should in fact be one of the first things to go (sigh). Our frown “turned upside down” once we discovered this recipe! I may at some point in the future delve into the cons of cold breakfast cereal, but for now….let’s just learn how to make homemade cereal…so great! Here are the ingredients you will need:
- 5 cups flour (I use fresh ground soft white wheat or spelt)
- 3 cups raw milk or yogurt
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 3/4 cup coconut oil (in its liquid form)
- 2 cups natural peanut butter (nothing in the ingredients but peanuts!)
- 1 cup honey (you can use maple syrup but there is something very classic about peanut butter and honey)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
Start this in the morning of day 1: combine the flour and milk/yogurt in a mixer bowl. Mix together until well combined. Cover bowl with towel set a plate on top or secure with a rubber band (keeps the fruit flies out). Note, I have found the top dries out more if you do not use a plate, but it is up to you. Leave on counter for 24 hours.
Start this in the morning of day 2: Preheat oven to 350. Mix all of the ingredients into the mixer with the batter and blend until well combined. Pour batter into 2 greased 9×13 pyrex pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. You do not want to over bake this should be a very moist coffee cake. 25 minutes is perfect for me. Good luck not eating the coffee cake as it is now. Let cool until you can handle it because you will crumble it onto baking sheets (2 half sheet pans to be exact). Put in a 170 degree oven for 6-8 hours. Check every hour or as needed (maybe every 2) to remove dehydrated pieces on the top and shuffle around as necessary. You are going for chunky Grapenuts. Store in a gallon ziplock bag in the fridge – stays fresh until you run out! Slicing a banana on top or adding raisins (0r both) is our favorite! The beauty of this cereal is you can customize it to your family’s liking. Smaller pieces that stay more firm in the milk, larger pieces that get softer – it is up to you! Optional: Omit peanut butter and add one additional cup of flour plus 1 teaspoon maple flavoring, and 1 cup of maple syrup instead of honey for a tasty cinnamon maple cereal. Follow same assembly/cooking instructions as mentioned above.
project: family cookbook 